Vt. mayor scraps major development project

Previous plan would have created a recreation center

Widely regarded as one of Burlington, Vermont's most treasured assets, the Lake Champlain waterfront draws countless thousands of visitors each year. Now, a hulking fossil from the 1950s may one day bring even more. "It's time for some more progress," said Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, a democrat.

Weinberger announced Monday he's scrapping a several year-old plan by the previous mayor, progressive Bob Kiss. Kiss’s idea was to turn a long-decommissioned coal-fired electrical generation facility known as the Moran Plant into a large multi-use center. It would have included a year-round ice-climbing wall and other tenants. Weinberger called that idea too risky for a local government to assume responsibility for, and said it should instead be left to private developers. “After years of delay, further inaction is also untenable,” he noted.

Mayor Weinberger still wants to see something done with the property, so he's opening it up to proposals from private sector developers starting this fall. He said it will be the city of Burlington's first competitive bidding process in 17 years.

Weinberger said he believes moving the project into the private arena will protect the city. Voters here are still stinging from a scandal at Burlington Telecom, the municipally-owned utility which was secretly propped up with $17-million in tax dollars several years ago. That revelation by Mayor Kiss led to a downgrade in the city’s credit rating, Weinberger and independent City Councilor Karen Paul indicated. “I think we can send a strong message to Moody's and other rating agencies that Burlington really understands its financial challenges,” the Ward 6 councilor explained, applauding the move by Weinberger.

Even though he's breaking with the past, Weinberger did say he has several near-term priorities for improving the waterfront area. He said he supports spending millions in local and federal dollars on upgrades to Burlington's popular bike path, creating more parking spaces, and burying power lines. Weinberger also told reporters he wants to build a "world-class" skate park and create storm water treatment facilities to cut pollution to Lake Champlain.

Mayor Weinberger promised the non-profit Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center he will help it find a permanent home on the waterfront. The group offers for its affordable boat rentals and education programs. “We are here to make the waterfront accessible for all and to make sure the waterfront is here for all of us to enjoy,” said Marc Sherman, the president of the LCCSC Board of Directors.

Weinberger told New England Cable News that $2.1-million has already been spent on the Moran Plant project. More than half of that was city money, he noted, but he said many past expenditures did help create a stronger footing for future growth. Those included environmental studies into contamination of the site stemming from its former industrial use.

Following the bidding process, a new vision for this section of the well-visited Lake Champlain waterfront could emerge by next April.